The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Muen’s mind.

The nature of the world, the secrets of the universe, the reason humanity existed, the meaning of the past, present, and future... even the ultimate philosophical question concerning the id, ego, and superego—

None of it mattered.

After all those thoughts swept by, only two words remained in Muen’s head.

Hatchet.

Hatchet.

Bright, gleaming hatchets!

One, two, three, four...

That’s right. If he didn’t find a way to stop this, the priest’s deluxe family bucket combo was eventually going to reserve a special portion just for him alone!

The crisis of the harem battlefield detonating on the spot was right in front of him. He absolutely could not... make another mistake!

“The dress is finished?”

Muen gently caught the small hand An was using to wipe him clean and revealed a flawlessly handsome smile.

Bright temperament. Gentle smile.

At this moment, he looked nothing like a scumbag who had abruptly abandoned his date halfway through to fool around with other women for hours.

Instead, he looked more like a considerate boyfriend who had only briefly stepped away in order to prepare a special surprise for his beloved girl.

If he were not currently standing in the middle of ruins with his clothes still somewhat disheveled, this scene alone would have been enough to make any girl’s heart race.

“The fabric, measurements, and style have all been finalized. That old lady was very professional. Just from the sketch she drew, I can already imagine how beautiful the finished product will be.”

An withdrew her handkerchief. Her elegant, lovely face remained expressionless as always, making it impossible to judge her emotions from appearance alone.

“Rather, Young Master... didn’t you say you were only handling a small matter? Why did it take so long?”

“So... long?” Muen’s smile did not waver.

“A full two hours, thirty-two minutes, and twenty-one seconds.”

An stared directly into Muen’s eyes.

“If it were truly just a small matter, I don’t think it should have taken that long.”

“...”

All right.

Looks like she was very unhappy.

Which made sense. He had suddenly disappeared for that long in the middle of a date. Anyone would be upset. Anyone would wonder exactly what he had been doing during those two hours, thirty-two minutes, and twenty-one seconds.

And obviously, that amount of time was enough not only to handle business, but to do plenty of other things as well.

“Young Master? Why aren’t you speaking?”

Buzz... buzz...

His sense of impending death was ringing alarms. Gleaming hatchets were closing in. Clearly, this was yet another near-certain-death crisis.

But Muen still felt...

He could still be saved.

After all, An was only angry. She had not directly exploded yet.

Which meant one thing—

She still didn’t know what had happened.

She was angry because she had waited so long.

Angry because he was hiding things from her.

But not angry over the things that had actually happened during that time.

Dates with other women. Kissing. Reunions.

From An’s perspective, none of those things existed yet.

“Yes, An, I understand what you mean. Two hours, thirty-two minutes, and twenty-one seconds is indeed a very long time. Long enough to be somewhat unforgivable.”

Muen adjusted his messy collar.

An had wiped the dirt off him, but she had not helped straighten his clothes.

One could easily imagine the terrifying fury she was suppressing right now.

But Muen was not afraid in the slightest.

He knew well that as a warrior who had survived multiple harem battlefields, the more dangerous the situation became, the more he needed courage and wisdom to break through it!

And courage and wisdom were things he had never lacked!

This was merely an obstacle.

As long as he crossed it, a brighter future awaited him beyond!

“I imagine nobody would enjoy the period when I suddenly disappeared, and naturally, An, you feel the same way. But... what if I told you that I spent those entire two hours, thirty-two minutes, and twenty-one seconds searching for the most beautiful flower in this city... just for you?”

Muen tilted his head slightly, allowing sunlight to fall across his face and carve out sharp, upright lines like a marble sculpture.

“A flower?”

An raised a brow.

“That’s right. A flower!”

Muen bent one knee slightly and placed both hands behind his back. Under An’s gaze, like a magician performing a trick...

He actually produced a gorgeous rose blooming with fresh vitality.

“For those entire two hours, thirty-two minutes, and twenty-one seconds, I searched through every street in this city... searching for a flower worthy of you. It was difficult to find. I searched every alley and corner, which is why it took so long.

But fortunately...

I still found one.”

Muen offered the rose to An.

“My dear An, I now present this flower to you. I hope you can forgive my slight lateness... because only a flower that took me this long to find could truly represent my feelings.”

“...”

An did not speak immediately.

She simply lowered her head and quietly admired the flower.

A red rose, vivid as a gemstone.

It was obvious that it had indeed been carefully cultivated. Whether it was truly the “most beautiful” remained debatable, but one could undeniably sense sincerity within it.

Although Young Master definitely had not spent all that time merely searching for a flower, the fact that he had been able to immediately produce it under her sudden interrogation at least proved that he had been thinking about her all along.

Realizing that, the tension in An’s pretty face finally softened slightly.

She raised her hand and reached for the flower—

Seeing this, Muen could not help releasing a long breath of relief.

At least for now, he had passed the checkpoint—

“Oh my. Offering such a beautiful flower amidst broken ruins... what a breathtakingly moving scene.”

But at that moment, a seductive figure suddenly emerged from the shadows.

The meaningful surprise in her voice echoed sharply through the street alongside the crisp sound of high heels striking the ground, like a razor-sharp hatchet sliding from its sheath, instantly making the hairs on Muen’s neck stand upright.

“It’s just... why does that flower look a little familiar to me?”

Anna stepped from darkness into the light.

She first glanced at the flower, then looked toward Muen.

Without blame, without anger, without suspicion...

Using only a mildly curious tone, she spoke to her dear junior:

“Don’t you think so too, Junior?”

“...”

The smile on Muen’s face finally began to crack.

If it had only been An, he could still have barely held the situation together with his unmatched wisdom.

But the moment Anna appeared, he understood.

No matter how outstanding his courage and intelligence were, they could not overcome the hard limits of reality itself.

Because that flower...

Was the very flower he had previously intended to give Senior Sister.

Senior Sister simply had not had time to take it before that white thing suddenly appeared, leaving the flower still in his possession.

Which was why he had decided to use it to preserve his miserable dog life.

Which was why Senior Sister had now caught him red-handed at exactly this moment.

One link connected to another.

Trying to repair one wall by tearing down another—

Yet before the western wall could even be patched properly, a sudden blitz from the eastern wall had completely ruined everything...

And pushed the situation into even greater danger.

“Familiar?”

An’s beautiful eyes narrowed immediately as she turned toward him suspiciously.

“Young Master, what does this pest mean?”

“Hehe, what does it mean? Naturally, it means that flower was never meant for you.”

“Shut up!”

Danger!

Muen could not help closing his eyes.

He could practically hear another hatchet sliding from its sheath in front of him, blade gleaming with murderous intent.

Clearly, this was the sort of matter that could be solved if everyone simply trusted each other for a moment.

Yet neither girl had any intention of listening to the other.

Instead, both locked onto Muen with gazes containing three parts doubt, three parts interrogation, and ninety-four parts:

“What the hell is this bitch talking about? Hurry up and deny it.”

Muen felt his heart dancing on the edge of a blade.

At the same time, he understood that if he said even one wrong sentence, he could basically say goodbye to his short life.

Before him lay a bottomless cliff.

One more step, and he would shatter into pieces!

But he still could not back down!

Muen took a deep breath and gathered his courage once more.

The more cowardly he acted in situations like this, the faster he would die. As a true man, this level of harem battlefield was nothing. Just watch him once again—

“Hm? A flower? What flower?”

Unfortunately, fate seemed unwilling to give him any chance to counterattack.

Hatchet Number Three had arrived on the battlefield.

Brilliant Holy Light instantly illuminated the surrounding area like broad daylight. Although she looked somewhat disheveled, as if she had rushed here while fleeing, her eyes were immediately drawn toward the flower in Muen’s hand.

“Eh? Such a pretty flower. Why don’t I have one?”

“I don’t either!”

A furious roar erupted.

Scorching firelight tore through the heavens, faintly overwhelming even the Holy Light surrounding Hatchet Number Three.

Hatchet Number Four—

Wrapped in endless crimson flames, descended from the sky!

And just like her blazing fire, her grief-stricken voice seemed determined to burn everything to ashes!

“This is so unfair! So unfair! Fine, you all went on dates behind my back. Fine, you all kissed behind my back. But why do all of you get flowers while I get absolutely nothing?!”

“...A date?”

“...Kissing?”

“...Mm, I want a flower too.”

“I refuse to accept this!”

In an instant—

Every sharp glare.

Every grievance.

Every obsessive emotion.

Every trace of sorrow and fury.

All converged upon the poor little flower in Muen’s hand.

It was over.

Clearly, the one being scorched beneath those blazing gazes was the flower.

Yet Muen felt as though he himself had been placed beneath a merciless sun to roast alive.

At the same time, somewhere not far away, he seemed to see the priest and Fubeka dressed in matching formal black outfits, carrying four stacked coffins while cheerfully blowing suona horns and wobbling toward him in delight.

The “Even Alone, We Must Be Neat and Orderly” deluxe coffin package had already been opened—

Simply waiting to receive Muen’s corpse...

Or rather, the scattered fragments of it.